Recalibrating tomorrow’s global value chains – prospects for CESEE

The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) join forces for the 2021 edition of the OeNB’s flagship conference

On November 22 and 23, 2021, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), will hold its 2021 Conference on European Economic Integration (CEEI). Putting the spotlight on the Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) region, the CEEI sets out to explore the most pressing questions in an ever more interconnected world, addressing the topic of “Recalibrating tomorrow’s global value chains – prospects for CESEE.”

As in the past years, the CEEI 2021 will feature internationally acclaimed speakers who will debate the risks and benefits associated with increasing economic interconnectedness. While deep integration into global value chains (GVCs) has benefited CESEE economies in particular, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been yet another wake-up call highlighting the vulnerabilities that may result from GVC integration.

In this context, speakers will revisit the questions of whether GVC integration is more likely to amplify, or mitigate, swings in economic activity and what policymakers and businesses can do to sustain the recovery. Moreover, the conference will seek to identify what we can expect from ongoing structural shifts in our economies, such as the digital transformation, the greening of production and the profound transformation of the car industry.

Hosted by OeNB Governor Robert Holzmann and EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix, the CEEI 2021 will welcome central bank governors from the CESEE region as distinguished speakers, including Governor Mārtiņš Kazāks (Bank of Latvia), Governor Peter Kažimír (National Bank of Slovakia), Governor Jiří Rusnok (Czech National Bank), Governor Jorgovanka Tabaković (National Bank of Serbia) and Governor Boris Vujčić (Croatian National Bank). Ricardo Hausmann (Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard University) and Hylke Vandenbussche (Professor of International Economics at KU Leuven) will deliver keynote lectures. Richard Baldwin (Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute Geneva) will give the dinner speech.